The history of the Peloponnesian war, translation from the Greek of Thucydides. To which are annexed, three preliminary discourses. I. On the life of Thucydides. II. On his qualifications as a historian. III. A survey of the history. By William Smith

William Smith (1711-1787), classical scholar, translator, and Anglican cleric, educated at Worcester Grammar School and New College, Oxford. Early in his career, Smith became associated with the 10th Earl of Derby, who granted him the rectory of Holy Trinity in Chester (1735). His reputation as a classicist was established with Longinus de Sublimitate (1739), a widely appreciated English translation. Fluent in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, he served as chaplain to the 11th Earl of Derby and briefly held the post of headmaster at Brentwood Grammar School (1748), which he soon resigned. Smith's major scholarly work was his English translation of Thucydides, which was followed by Xenophon's Hellenica (1770). He held various ecclesiastical offices in Chester and Liverpool, culminating in his appointment as Dean of Chester (1758). After his death, his friend Thomas Crane published a posthumous volume of his Poetic Works (1788), which included minor verse and a paraphrase of John Donne. ODBN